It has been known that a "color fogging" phenomenon is caused in color photographic sensitive materials comprising a silver halide photographic sensitive material containing a compound capable of releasing a diffusible dye by a redox reaction caused by development (usually referred to as a "dye releasing redox" compound) which are developed using a black-and-white developing agent such as phenidone, etc., and in color photographic sensitive materials containing couplers which are developed using a color developing agent, and it has been well known that various kinds of oxidized developing agent scavengers are used for preventing this phenomenon.
In the case of multicolor photography, the above-described oxidized developing agent scavenger is used in an intermediate layer in order to obtain good color separation, or is used in a silver halide emulsion layer or a dye image donator layer (for example, a layer containing a dye releasing redox compound or a coupler) combined with the silver halide emulsion layer in order to obtain a minimum density of fogging.
As the above-described oxidized developing agent scavenger, it has been known hitherto to use various substituted hydroquinones. For example, the use of monosubstituted alkyl hydroquinones has been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,360,290, 2,418,613, 2,403,721 and 3,960,570, etc., and the use of monobranched alkyl hydroquinones in U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,453, German Patent Application (OLS) No. 2,149,789 and Japanese Patent Applications (OPI) Nos. 156438/75 and 106329/74 (the term "OPI" as used herein refers to a "published unexamined Japanese patent application"). On the other hand, the use of disubstituted alkylhydroquinones has been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,728,659, 2,732,300 and 3,243,294, British Pat. No. 752,146 and Chemical Abstracts, Vol. 56, 6367h, and the use of dibranched alkylhydroquinones in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,700,453, 2,732,300 and 3,243,294, the above-described Chemical Abstracts, Japanese Patent Applications (OPI) Nos. 156438/75, 9528/78 and 29637/79 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 21249/75.
In addition, the use of substituted hydroquinones as an oxidized developing agent scavenger has been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,701,197, 2,710,801, and 2,704,713 and Research Disclosure, 12245 (1974), etc.
Further, the use of polymers having hydroquinone moieties as an oxidized developing agent scavenger has been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,710,801, and 2,816,028.
It is desirable that the oxidized developing agent scavenger used for a multicolor photographic process, and particularly for a color diffusion transfer process, should satisfy the following requirements.
(1) It should be a compound capable of suitably reacting with an oxidized developing agent formed by development of silver halide. For example, a compound to be incorporated in an intermediate layer is added to the intermediate layer placed between a silver halide layer and a layer containing a dye releasing redox compound (or a coupler) which is not associated with the emulsion layer in order to prevent reacting the oxidized developing agent formed by development of silver halide with the dye releasing redox compound (or the coupler) which is not combined with said silver halide. In this case, it is necessary that the compound reacts with the oxidized developing agent to capture it, by which diffusion thereof into the "layer containing a dye releasing redox compound (or a coupler) which is not combined" is substantially prevented.
Furthermore, in the case wherein the reactivity of the compound with the oxidized developing agent is too high, it is desirable that the reaction should be suitably carried out in order to reduce the maximum dye image density by preventing the reaction of the oxidized developing agent formed by development of silver halide with the dye releasing redox compound (or a coupler) "which is combined" with said silver halide.
(2) An increase of the thickness of the sensitive material should be small in case of adding the oxidized developing agent scavenger to the sensitive material. In case of a color diffusion transfer process, it is sometimes necessary that a dye released from the dye releasing redox compound passes through a layer containing the oxidized developing agent scavenger. The thickness of the layer containing the oxidized developing agent scavenger can be decreased when the amount of the oxidized developing agent scavenger and the amount of materials required for adding the oxidized developing agent scavenger (a high boiling point solvent and gelatin, etc.) are decreased. Consequently, the time necessary to pass the released dye through the layer becomes short and sharpness of transfer images is improved. In an instant color diffusion transfer process for forming images as quickly as possible, it is very important to decrease the thickness to the minimum value possible.
(3) Influence upon the silver developing property of the silver halide emulsion should be small when the oxidized developing agent scavenger is added to the photosensitive material. Particularly, in the case of carrying out development wherein a direct positive image is formed using an inner latent image type silver halide emulsion, the oxidized developing agent scavenger existing in the silver halide emulsion layer or a layer adjacent to the silver halide emulsion layer sometimes has an adverse influence upon the silver developing property. Accordingly, it is necessary to use a compound which has a smaller influence upon it.
(4) It should not reduce a diffusible dye or a diffusible dye precursor to change the color hue in the case of carrying out a development processing at a high pH. Particularly, some dialkylhydroquinones (for example, 2,5-di-sec-dodecylhydroquinone and 2,5-di-tert-pentadecylhydroquinone) used as an oxidized developing agent scavenger sometimes cause a change of hue of compounds having a dye constitution moiety containing a reducible group (for example, a nitro group) in a dye structural part. Since such a change of the hue has a significant adverse influence upon color reproduction, it is very important to appropriately select the oxidized developing agent scavenger to be combined with a compound having a dye constitution moiety containing a reducible group in the dye structural part (for example, monoazonaphthol dyes having a nitro group).
(5) It should not produce a photographically undesirable effect by migrating into each layer of the color photographic sensitive material. It is necessary that an undesirable effect is not substantially produced before, during, and after the processing of the color photographic sensitive material.
(6) It should not cause deterioration of interlayer adhesion. Generally, when a high boiling point solvent or a hydroquinone derivative which is liquid at room temperature is added to the sensitive material, the interlayer adhesion deteriorates. Accordingly, it is desirable that such a phenomenon does not occur.
(7) It should have a minimal dependence on the processing temperature of the development (i.e., it should have a wide latitude of temperature for the development processing). Particularly, it is necessary for a color diffusion transfer process that the photographic sensitivity is high, the maximum density is sufficiently high, the minimum density is sufficiently low, and the gradation is suitable, even if the processing temperature varies.
(8) The quality of coated materials should not be deteriorated by separation of crystals during or after application, and colored by-products should not be formed during application or processing by an oxidation reaction.
The present invention is based on discoveries of a polymer compound satisfying the above-described requirements for the oxidized developing agent scavenger, and a process for using the polymer compound.